Military Model Scene

Title: Harpoon Missile vs Surface Ships
Author: Lon Nordeen
Publisher: Osprey
ISBN: 978-1-4728-5930-4

'US Navy, Libya and Iran 1986-88', number 134 in the Duel series from Osprey Publishing. An 80-page soft-cover book, including artwork illustrations by Jim Laurier.
After an Introduction to set the scene and a Chronology of key events, there is a chapter detailing the design and development of the new Harpoon anti-ship missile. Created as an answer to improve over the capabilities of the latest Soviet missile designs. It includes the requirement that the new missile should be capable of being fired from existing ships launchers, and also from aircraft, which in the case of this story, is the A-6 Intruder. This section also includes the Mk 36 SRBOC chaff launcher, a countermeasures device. Then it moves on to look at the Technical Specifications for the ships and aircraft which would take the Harpoon into combat. A chapter on the two opponents who were on the receiving end of the first examples used in anger, these being Libya, under Colonel Gaddafi and Iran, after their revolution. The chapter detailing the Combat actions gives us the events of Operation Prairie Fire, against Libyan targets, and Operation Praying Mantis, against Iranian warships. Both stories feature plenty of personal accounts of their individual involvements with actually fighting with the new Harpoon missile, and the tactics they employed.
The Harpoon anti-ship missile was first fired in 1972, and saw combat in 2 theatres, the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. This is a detailed story of the missile development and actual combat employment in 1986-1988. The Harpoon went on to be made in large numbers and has served with over 30 Western nations. With plenty of archive photos and some first class artwork which includes a cutaway profile of the missile, I found this made for interesting reading, with a lot of detail on both the missile design, and the events and tactics of how they were first deployed in combat scenarios. Another good addition to the Duel series.
Thanks to Osprey for the review copy.

Robin